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at the cooper hewitt’s lackluster ‘design for the other 90%‘ exhibit i was puzzled by the ‘day labor station:’ a well-intentioned shelter for immigrant day laborers who - at least in california - seek day labor by standing around home supply stores waiting for an unscrupulous contractor to pick them up. the solution - for these architects - was to design a shelter where the day laborers could way more comfortably, kind of like a bus stop except a little more shanty-esque (below). i suppose the next logical step would be to design more comfortable cargo beds for pickup trucks so that they can relax on the way to and from their dangerous, unregulated and underpaid work. maybe these shelters imply that the community condones these practices? on the other hand, maybe architects could make a bigger difference by insisting on safe labor, living wages; and maybe, just maybe, if carpenters wanted to they could build their own shelter (and it would probably look sturdier). sometimes i wonder if we need designers at all…
. Leo is a artist, inventor and all around practical person in the Tangible Media Group at the Media Lab. He has a background in sculpture, architecture and industrial design as well as an MS from the Media Lab spent working on the kitchen of the future. He is on a search for truth.
